I’ve been talking with students about the use of vocabulary, “licks”, and learned musical sentences in improvisation in 20th century Black American Music. If we compare music to visual art, I think sometimes it can be helpful to practice improvisation more like creating a collage than trying to paint something completely new on a blank […]
Category: Life
Vocabulary
Transcription Clip – Joe Henderson, “Song For my Father”
When I was 15 my family went to Berkeley CA to visit my brother at college, and the Tower Records store there had a CD called “The Best Blue Note Album Ever”, a double-disc compilation. I was getting into jazz/BAM at the time but I don’t think I knew what Blue Note was. I bought […]
Theoretics
Theoretics released a new track, “Suspended Animation”, last week, part of an EP that we hope to release in the near future, funded by pay-what-you-want donations. You can check it out here: https://theoretics.bandcamp.com/album/suspended-animation-3?fbclid=IwAR3xPbt23Jebf3QftaaSO2YgY-fI00VB0Kp3tB32T7S6ox79EWH3T_NLRWU The group has taken a break for a while now, mostly focusing on getting the last of our creative material out […]
Transcription Clip: John Coltrane, “I Hear a Rhapsody”
Playing Alto Saxophone exclusively when I was studying in college means that most of my knowledge is still pretty deeply related to that voice; I didn’t learn songs or jazz solos in all keys (which I should have), and for most of my time as a musician I heard ideas on alto rather than on […]
Tour Blog, Fall 2018, Day 8
Although tour has now ended, I am going to pick up where I left off and continue giving some day-to-day posts from the road. These will lead up to Polyrhythmics’ big shows in Portland and Bend this weekend, as well as the grand finale in Seattle on November 24. “Will it play in Peoria?” Before […]
Tour Blog, Fall 2018, Day 7
Although tour has now ended, I am going to pick up where I left off and continue giving some day-to-day posts from the road. These will lead up to Polyrhythmics’ big shows in Portland and Bend this weekend, as well as the grand finale in Seattle on November 24. After Chicago we had an early […]
Tour Blog, Fall 2018, Day 6
Polyrhythmics play Chicago for the first time! My sister has lived in Chicago for some years now, so I was happy she would get the chance to see the band in her town. As it turned out, the venue, the Tonic Room, was about a 10-minute-walk from her apartment, so it was an area I […]
Tour Blog, Fall 2018, Day 4
On Tuesday night we played in St. Paul, Minnesota, at a club called Vieux Carre. Vieux Carre is a sit-down dinner club that focuses on the food and culture of New Orleans, as evidenced by the name. The walls of the club are covered with beautiful black and white photos like the one below of […]
Tour Blog, Fall 2018, Day 3
I’m a day or so behind but I’m going to keep going! In Lincoln, Nebraska we played the Zoo Bar, a small blues club that opened in 1973. The walls were covered with old posters and flyers with some of the biggest names in blues music, all of whom had played the Zoo Bar at […]
Tour Blog, Fall 2018, Day 2
Hi Everyone! I’m blogging from Nebraska. Our first show of the tour in Denver went well. I think we’ve built a little following over the several times we’ve played there, and the city has a certain circle of folks that are into creative groove-based music. Also, I always look forward to meeting up with my old friend Justin and his friends […]